Scorpion

MEDIA TYPE : TV Show

OFFENSE DATE : February 8, 2016

In CBS’s “Scorpion”, Toby (white male) and Happy (Asian female) have had a friendship with flirtation for a while. As is customary in Hollywood, the white male persists until the Asian female agrees to sex and/or relationship. We see this in Mistresses, Make your Move, Beauty and the Beast and others. He either does so assertively by leading her around even when consent is not clear (see Make your Move) or by stuborness even when the Asian female leans towards friendship or rejection (see Mistresses). Toby persists with Happy and Hollywood is glad to show the result. Notice they never do this with Asian men pursuing white women. While this may all seem innocuous, it is part of a constant pattern of sexual imperialism by the West towards Asian women. Repeated demonstration of this dynamic normalizes it in society, leading to improper expectations and mistreatment of Asian women in real life.

“But the real shocker came in the closing moments of the episode, when Walter (Elyes Gabel) came to patch things up with Toby Curtis (Eddie Kaye Thomas), interrupting what appeared to be post-coital bliss with Happy Quinn (Jadyn Wong) “

As you can see, it is impossible for Hollywood to place an Asian woman in a cast without her succumbing to the persistent sexual appeals of a white male character. The two worrisome qualities of this are: the real-life impact where white men need to see Asian women purely as friends, business partners and not always as sexual targets. Hollywood refuses to let that happen. In many cases, men work collaboratively with white women but don’t sleep with them. This is rare with Asian women. Second, Hollywood reinforces the primacy of white men that aggressive sexual pursuit if fine by them, but not for black men or Asian men.

One incident may not alone convince you, but the fact that this happens repeatedly across TV and movies should. Check out Kulture’s reports on Gender to see what we mean: